Mount Rainier, September '02

Back to the 'Trail of Terror' for the third time. The
third time's the charm and all that. We will be doing a three
day trek to King's Peak in Utah immediately prior to going to
Rainier. A 25 mile, three day hike all between 9,000 and 13,500
feet will be just what we need to acclimate. We'll see.

First, Kings Peak

Our campsite above Dollar Lake. We thought we were the
only ones in the valley until we came across two guys the
next morning. The temperature got down into the twenties in
the morning.

Every inch of a four mile hike from camp to the summit was
covered with these rocks. Of course you have to cross them
twice, once in and once out. There is no real trail most of
the way, just endless boulder hopping.

I've never seen so many rocks.

And now....snow covered rocks. Kings Peak in the
background.

The summit is just beyond this pinnacle. Lots of ice and
snow, some of it very hard and slick with lots of exposure.

Janet on top.

Now, Rainier for the third time.

A day after climbing Kings Peak, we flew to Seattle and
drove to Paradise Inn at Mt. Rainier, rested a day, then
started up.

Pebble Creek, at the base of the Muir snowfield.

Halfway up the Muir snowfield.

Ric chopping ice for water at Camp Muir. Note the three
tents in the background.

View down the Ingraham Glacier, just after we turned
around...It was just too much for us again. We turned
around at about 12,600'.

One of the crevasses we had to skirt.

Just after climbing down 'Disappointment Cleaver,' a mass
of rotten, loose rock, a portion of which is in the
background. A climber had been killed by a basketball size
rock very near where this photo was taken only a few days
prior. It's a good thing we climbed up that in the dark,
I'm not so sure I would want to in the daylight.